Whiskeyfest inspired food

A couple of times in the past year my husband Sam dragged me to some sort of whiskey festival/tasting thing. Well, the first one he dragged me and it was really fun, so the second one I went gladly to, and we’re going again in March. I don’t really like whisk(e)y but have learned to tell which ones are good, and can appreciate all the complex flavors a single bottle offers. Of course I spend much of the time in the sessions scribbling down food pairing ideas or recipes using the various whiskeys we’re tasting.

This salad was inspired by a recent festival and a session where we tasted a bunch of very sea-peaty whiskeys:

Barley and smoked tofu salad with whisky dressing and seaweed

I have usually had whiskey in sweet foods, but it was perfect in the dressing for this salad. It brought together all the smokey salty flavors of the various foods and a hint of sweet caramelyness.